Living With The Avengers: The Halloween Special!
by WayToDawn324
Summary: Halloween is a big deal in Stark Tower, as all the Avengers love one aspect or another about it, but the new occupants are a little skeptical. A haunted house can't be too scary, right? Sequel to Living With The Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

_**NOTE: This is the sequel to a series called Living with The Avengers, which includes two OCs Carter and Laynie. If you want to read their story, find it here: **_

s/9274472/1/Living-with-the-Avengers

* * *

October 31st was a magical day. One when the vampires came out of their coffins and the mummies too. The adults acted like kids for once, and it was the one day that every kid in America was simultaneously on a sugar rush. You had candy corn for breakfast, lunch and dinner just because you could.

October 31st in Stark Tower wasn't much different.

Laynie and Carter sprung out of their beds excited. They both donned their costumes without knowing the other was doing the same, and met in the hallway by accident.

Carter was dressed in pirate's garb, looking like a grade-A swashbuckler. She had big boots, a feathered hat, a puffy shirt, and an authentic looking sword.

Laynie, on the other hand, looked quite different. She was dressed as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, with her skin lightly tinted blue and stitches scribbled all over her with a washable marker. She had a wig made entirely out of orange yarn and wore a patchwork dress.

"Arg matey," Laynie commented very seriously.

Carter rolled her eyes and chuckled.

The two girls started to walk to the living room. "You know, as much fun as dressing up is, I don't know why we do it. It's not as if we're going trick-or-treating." Carter commented. "Or anything else for that matter..."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong." A voice said behind them.

Both of them turned to find Tony behind them.

"What're you talking about?" Carter asked curiously.

"Well, you see," he started to walk with them to the living room, "I didn't really want to sit around here all day handing out candy to a bunch of kids. So, me and Clint decided we would take you two to a haunted house tonight. It's supposed to be the best here in New York."

While Laynie seemed excited, Carter was less than thrilled at the announcement.

"A haunted house?" She repeated.

"Yep!" Tony grinned.

Laynie about exploded right then, throwing her arms up in a double fist pump. "I've always wanted to go to a haunted house!"

Tony's grin just got bigger, and Carter just got more anxious.

Tony saluted them before leaving the room, and Pepper passed through the next second. She was wearing the costume Tony had so graciously bought her. A black and white maid's outfit with a shirt too short and a neckline too deep. He'd said something in relation to her almost having been his maid by being his personal assistant. "Aw! You girls look amazing!"

Laynie grinned. "Thanks! Did Tony tell you where he and Clint are taking us tonight?"

She nodded. "Yes! Maybe I'll come with you next year. I have too much to do in preparation for a meeting tomorrow to be out too late tonight."

"That would be great," Laynie replied.

"Are you girls helping decorate the lobby? Bruce, Steve and Clint are already downstairs."

"I'm going!" Laynie looked to her friend for an answer.

"Um yeah, we were heading down now." She answered quietly and was already walking toward the elevator.

Laynie followed after and pressed the button before her friend could. They got to do it multiple times a day but still they raced to it.

"Are you okay?" Laynie asked.

"I'm fine." Carter forced a smile, while she racked her brain trying to think of a way out of going tonight.

"Yeah, uh huh, and I'm completely incapable of reading my best friend's face like a book. What's wrong? You love Halloween."

"Nothing's wrong." Carter insisted, "I was just... looking forward to passing out candy." She answered weakly, knowing her excuse was terrible.

Laynie nodded slowly. She was aware that her and Bruce were very close, so she was naturally looking forward to spending time with him, but it was good for her to get out with Clint and Tony. "Sorry. You could still stay here if you want. Tony wouldn't be too heart broken."

Carter nodded gently, "I'll think about it." She was positive that she wouldn't get out of it that easily.

The elevator slid open to reveal the lobby of Stark Tower. Several boxes were spread out on the floor, each containing a numerous amount of Halloween decorations.

Laynie bounded out of the elevator and to the nearest box, quizzing Steve on where the black and orange steamers were.

Carter shook her head at her excitable friend and made her way toward Bruce. He was spreading table cloths over a line of plastic tables that would later be covered in vats of candy.

Stark Tower was going to be one of New York's finest Halloween attractions. With all kinds of activities set up for the kids and even a miniature haunted house in the back rooms, not to mention the candy, it was going to be a busy night for Steve and Bruce, the Avengers in charge of the situation.

Bruce gave his charge a smile as she approached. "Good morning. Or should I just say arr?" At her half-genuine smile, Bruce straightened and dropped the table cloth. "What's wrong?"

"Why am I stuck with the person I can't get anything past?" Carter smiled lightly.

Bruce returned the smile. "So, what's wrong?"

Carter sighed, "I'm guessing Tony told you about taking us to a haunted house tonight."

"Yeah, what about it?"

Carter bit her lip, trying to think of a way to explain to Bruce what was wrong without sounding completely stupid.

The first thing Bruce did was pull her into a hug. The second thing he did was adjust the feather in her hat. "Are you scared?"

She looked away embarrassed, "I wouldn't call it scared exactly..."

He chuckled and resumed his job. "That's okay. It's okay to be scared. Just remember none of it's real and the scariest thing in there will be Clint's face. Also... Sometimes it's good to face your fears."

Carter crossed her arms and huffed. She was a little frustrated with the fact that Bruce was capable of reading her like a book. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'd rather just stay here and hand out candy."

"Children are vicious. You'll probably have more fun at the haunted house."

Laynie called Carter over at that moment, saying she needed help with the streamers.

Bruce gave a nod to Carter that implied she should go help.

Carter groaned and threw her head back dramatically before stomping over to Laynie, puffy shirt flapping in the wind.

Laynie had Carter hold up streamers as she taped them down and then had her help sprinkle tiny bat and jack-o-lantern confetti all over the tables. All the while she was jabbering about the last Halloween she'd spent with her mom, talking about how they'd watched the scariest movies they could find and regretted it when it thunder stormed and the power went out an hour later.

Carter just nodded every so often to let her friend know she was still listening. In the back of her mind though, she couldn't help but feel something was going to happen. And she wasn't going to like it.

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

_Lartovio (account name changed to NoraSpiderGirl but I'm going to continue to go by Larty on here): YAY FOR HALLOWEEN AND ANGUISH ON CARTER'S PART! Ehem, yeah. I just want to warn you guys that this fic gets scary as crap. Me and Dawn wrote most of it in the dark and we were freaking out XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy! At least until we finish LWTA, we're not putting any spoilers in this story. This is going to be a long running series of oneshots and short stories surrounding family life with the Avengers though, so make sure you follow! 3_

_Dawn: WHOO. HALLOWEEN SPECIAL. Yeah, Carter definitely is going to need some therapy after this ordeal. Lartovio and I both hope you enjoy this lovely fic and all other stories to come. :)_


	2. Chapter 2

The lobby was finished with a hour, after much commanding from Laynie and Steve. Being type-A people, they made a very intimidating decorating committee. Nevertheless, the task was finished and the five went upstairs for a late breakfast.

Carter and Laynie sat at the dining table for a while and talked. It was mostly Laynie talking about how excited she was to go to the haunted house that night.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to my room, I have some stuff to do." Carter quickly excused herself, knowing that if she stayed around her excited friend she'd guilt herself into going.

As she walked toward her room she ran into Tony.

"Carter, can I talk to you?" He asked.

"Um, yeah sure." She agreed hesitantly.

They walked down to Tony's lab. "Laynie told me you didn't want to go tonight." He said simply.

"Oh yeah, I was just looking forward to handing out candy, it's my favorite part about Halloween." Carter replied, trying to sound convincing.

Tony sat down at his workbench and began tinkering with a half-finished contraption of some sort. "How about you do neither and I give you some lie training?"

Carter glared at Tony. "I'm not lying."

He gave her a look. "I wasn't born yesterday, Carter. Stop it. I promise you the haunted house is safe. I would never take you or Laynie somewhere I wasn't absolutely sure you wouldn't be hurt."

Carter sighed. "Does everybody know?" She muttered.

Tony smirked. "I'm not the first to figure it out then?"

"You came after Bruce. Unless Laynie has figured it out too. She hasn't said anything though, so I'm guessing not."

He nodded. "Bruce would be the first. Nothing gets past him. Nothing."

"You're telling me."

"Anyway, it's safe. Both Clint and I will be there if something did happen. You don't have to worry." Tony reassured her.

"You're not going to give me the option of staying, are you?" Carter asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope."

She groaned. "Fine. I'll go. Just don't tell Laynie and Clint about this, please?"

"Yeah sure." He replied with a shrug.

Satisfied he'd comforted Carter, they both went back upstairs. Carter to help Bruce organize candy, Tony to put on his costume. Tony always impatient, declared he was tired of sitting around the house and said he would take Clint and the girls around town to do some daylight trick-or-treating.

"Aren't we a little old for that Tony?" Laynie asked suspiciously.

"We're superheroes. They can't deny us candy. Besides this is New York, we're talking about."

"Laynie, we're going to be getting free candy, don't question the man." Carter said with a grin.

Clint rolled his eyes at Carter's comment.

Laynie shrugged. "Sounds legit."

In a few minutes, Count Stark the Vampire, Robin Hood Clint, Captain Carter Beckett, and Sallaynie were walking through the streets of New York.

There were countless costumes on the streets, many of which could be recognized as an Avenger.

Like Tony anticipated, nobody had a problem giving Laynie and Carter candy.

Less than an hour later, Carter and Laynie each had a pillowcase full of candy.

"I would have never thought of bringing pillowcases." Tony said in awe of the fact that the two girls had gathered so much candy.

"That's what we always did when we were kids. With pillowcases you can go to more houses than you normally would and get enough candy to last you months." Carter replied with a shrug.

Laynie shook her head. "A pillowcase lasts an entire year for me, as long as Carter doesn't get into it."

Clint frowned. "It would last five minutes with Thor."

They all laughed.

Within a few hours, it was beginning to get dark and the younger children were off the streets. More teenagers and adults began coming out, and Tony and Clint were done. They were always so cautious in large crowds when with the girls; probably brought on by past experiences through their jobs.

They headed home for a quick dinner (leftover pizza and candy corn along with massive amounts of Carter and Laynie's candy), then made sure everyone downstairs was surviving the onslaught of children before heading to the haunted house.

Tony and Laynie were practically bursting with excitement on the walk there. Tony had apparently been before, and was raving about how cool it was.

"There's more than thirty different rooms in the haunted house. You pass through each one as you walk through." Tony started to explain.

"What are the rooms like?" Carter asked, anxious to know what she was getting into.

"There's all different ones. Some are based off insane asylums, abandoned hospitals or warehouses that type of stuff. Some of the rooms have zombies, and then I'm not even sure what to call some of the monsters they have. There's just a lot of different rooms and they've probably changed a lot of them since last year." Tony said with a shrug.

"Great." Carter murmured.

Laynie bumped her friend with her shoulder and whispered under her breath, "I bet ten bucks Tony will be the first of us to scream like a girl."

Carter laughed nervously. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Tony led the way to the will call booths. He quickly picked up their tickets and handed one to each person and then they went to stand in line.

The house didn't open for another fifteen minutes, so the group had a little while to wait, not to mention that the line was already pretty long.

And as the time passed Carter became more anxious and Laynie was to the point where she could not contain her excitement.

Eventually the line started to move signalling that the house had opened and they were letting people in.

They separated the line into groups sending them into different rooms to go through. And then Tony, Clint, Carter, and Laynie were separated into their group and sent into the house.

Carter wrapped both arms around herself and kept close to Laynie, who was bouncing up and down excitedly.

As they were entering the first room, Laynie noticed her nervous friend and linked their arms together. "Just stick with us!"

Carter smiled a little and nodded.

The first room was dark with very little lighting and was made to look like a dark forest. From what Carter could see there was what was supposed to be blood splattered on the ground. Decapitated bodies and wayward limbs were scattered about. You could just barely see the alcoves where the actors popped out to scare you. And you could only find them if you really looked.

Somehow, Carter and Laynie ended up in front of the group leading the pack. Something Carter was not pleased with in any way.

They walked a while with nobody jumping out at them. But just when Carter thought they might get through the room without being jumped at, a man covered with blood came from behind a tree and swung an ax near them.

While Laynie had been shocked by the appearance and yelped slightly, Carter had almost knocked Laynie into the wall and had sent both Tony and Clint into laughing fits by her reaction.

As they went on to the next room the spooky forest got increasingly darker and the floor became cold beneath their feet.

The second a frost-bitten zombie lunged out of the shadows Laynie screamed and expertly maneuvered herself behind Carter without even thinking. Carter stopped and grabbed hold of Clint, who waved the zombie off upon seeing how scared Carter was. Few other zombies approached them, but as Carter gripped Clint's arm, he could feel her trembling.

Laynie stuck with Tony. Carter and Clint could hear them jumping or squealing and then laughing at each other for being scared.

Eventually Carter realized what she was doing and released Clint from her death grip. She looked at his face and all she saw was a look of amusement silently mocking her.

She huffed and stomped over to Laynie and Tony, though still be incredibly vigilant of her surroundings. She entered into the cabin at the end of the room with her arm linked in Laynie's once again.

The inside of the cabin appeared to be old and rotted. Dusty photos hung on the walls and an old, musty smell hung in the air.

Carter silently wondered how they managed to do that. As she did so, something suddenly grabbed her sides. She screamed and practically jumped on top of Laynie.

Turning, she saw Clint laughing like a maniac and Tony trying desperately not to laugh, but failing.

_And now they're laughing at my expense. Great._ Carter turned back around and quickly scurried after her friend.

Laynie hugged her friend with one arm and smiled. "See, it isn't so bad."

"It gets worse!" Tony cried gleefully.

"Thanks Tony, I appreciate that." Carter said sarcastically.

Finally they got out of the creepy forest section of the house and they entered into what would be considered a prison. And as Tony said, it got worse.

They had to weave in and out of cells that had prisoners and dead bodies chained up in them.

Carter was once again pushed in front to deal with any ambushes that may come.

She entered one cell cautiously, it was too dark to see if anything was inside. She got halfway in before a prisoner came out from against the wall and got in her face.

"Hey there, little girl," he sneered at her.

She squealed and ran out of the cell in a hurry. She ran into Laynie, who was screaming with laughter. "Come on, we don't want to get separated from the guys!"

They ran through the cells and found Tony holding a conversation with one of the chained prisoners.

"Only him."

Carter just stared. "Tony, why? Just why?"

"Because I can." He answered. He turned back to the prisoner, bid him a goodnight, and they continued on their way.

The next room had a heavy metal door that Clint volunteered to force open. Once inside, the door shut behind them, and blinding white lights turned on for a total of three seconds.

The walls were stark white and cushioned. There were people laying on floors in straight jackets, and others laying on the floor dead. There were a few crazed maniacs shambling toward the group when the light turned off, and they were enveloped in total blackness.

It wasn't too bad until all the mental patients released a series of blood curdling wails.

One of them screamed,_ "Find the door if you can!"_

The group panicked and scattered, bumping around in the dark to find the door. None of them were sure if they were brushing against friends or insane patients.

Carter eventually gave up after a while of scrambling to find a door she slid down against the wall and hid her face in her hands.

The mental patients continued to screech around her.

In that moment, she swore she was having a panic attack. A few minutes later the lights started to flicker and she saw all the mental patients laying on the floor, but Laynie, Tony, and Clint were no where to be found.

_This cannot be happening._ She thought to herself in dread.

She jumped up from the floor and ran to the metal door, which she knew only opened from the outside, and banged on it furiously. The other mental patients must have taken that as a queue, because they all began shrieking again.

Carter fell into the nearest corner, clawing at her ears and sobbing._ I'm never getting out of here!_


	3. Chapter 3

Carter was still in the corner crying when the metal door opened once more and the next group shuffled in. The door slammed shut behind the group.

Carter quickly wiped her tears and joined the next group determined to get out the room and rejoin her own group.

The lights shut off once more and all you could hear was the wailing of the mental patients once more. The familiar scream of _"Find the door if you can!"_ was heard once more and the current group went every which way searching for a door.

Carter made sure to stick close to a few people and after a few minutes they finally found the hidden door and left.

With a sigh of relief, Carter leaned back against the door for a moment and took a deep breath. When she saw everybody leaving without her she quickly ran and caught up with them.

The next room was tame compared to the last few minutes she spent in the insane asylum room. It was covered in radioactive looking sludge and half-melted people were running around, crazed. She managed to get through without being lunged at and made it safely to the next room. She was relieved to find the end of the house, except that wasn't what it was at all.

The room simulated outside perfectly, with fog hanging over the ground and a few young trees scattered through the grass. Crickets chirped contentedly, and all seemed well.

That made it even scarier when a howl cut through the artificial night and a wolf tore through the fog. Carter could tell it wasn't an illusion because the fog moved around it, but knew it couldn't be a real dog. Nevertheless, she screamed and ran ahead of the group. Another wolf jumped into her path, snarling and dripping blood from its mouth.

Carter drew her plastic pirate sword and hit it on the head soundly before running through the door to the next room.

She _immediately_ regretted it.

The room was made to simulate a bouncy castle with a ball pit. There were ankle deep colorful balls, except a lot were crushed and/or covered in blood. Halfway through the room, alone, a clown tore through the wall and charged her. At least ten others did the same until she was pressed against the back wall, screaming.

They quickly left her for the group coming in, and she escaped.

After a little bit of searching she found the entrance to the next room.

She was about to open the door when she looked on the wall beside it. There was a plaque that read, 'Slaughterhouse'.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself before opening the door.

The pungent smell of meat attacked her nose as soon as she entered. Around her hung dozens of dead pigs.

She almost vomited at the sight.

Barely in the room, suddenly a butcher with a cleaver ran toward her, swinging his weapon haphazardly.

She yelped and ran away, but he continued to pursue her. She found herself once again pressed into a corner and the man stood above her, meat cleaver raised over his head.

Carter was saved by the door to the room opening again.

The butcher quickly ran off to scare his next victims.

She recovered herself as quickly as she could. Her heart still raced as she searched the room for the exit. She had to shove aside a fake dead cow for the exit. Her hands came back sticky and cold. She had to try really hard to keep her Halloween candy in her stomach.

She entered the next room as stealthily as possible and slid into the corner, careful not to prompt any actors to attack her. The room remained dark and silent until the next group came in, when it exploded with action. The ceiling lit up with explosions and fake cannons loudly fired from every corner. Zombies in war torn army uniforms staggered around. Deafening gunfire and explosions went on all over, but other than that the room wasn't horribly scary. It was certainly better than the clowns or the butcher.

She took a moment to collect herself properly, then dashed across the battlefield.

She plowed through the door to the next room. She definitely wasn't prepared for what she saw next.

Around her were women and men chained up and being tortured unrelentlessly. Blood poured from their wounds and the screams that tore from their mouths were earth-shattering.

But, the things that tortured them were even more terrifying.

It was everything you expected demons to look like.

Black wings sprouted from their backs, ragged and molting. Their clothes were dark and very obviously stained with blood. The grins on their faces could only be described as demonic.

They wielded whips and maces, and so many other weapons of torture.

The scene stopped Carter in her tracks. She was horrified by what she saw.

Though the shock didn't last long when one of the demons came up behind her screeched right into her ear.

Carter screamed and ran past them as fast as she could.

They laughed as she ran in horror.

She was almost to the door when she was cut off by another demonic creature.

It sneered in her face and she could clearly see the blood pouring from it's mouth.

She turned and ran the other way, and found a small opening in the wall where the monsters couldn't see her.

She covered her ears to block out the wails of pain and the cackling of the horrible beasts in the room.

_Please somebody find me..._ She thought as she cried.


	4. Chapter 4

Laynie and Tony were the first of the group to tumble out of the last room into the chilly night. They were both laughing and crying, shaking from the adrenalin running through them.

"Tony that was _awesome_," Laynie shouted. She was absolutely petrified, and nothing could make her go back in there, but it had been fun.

"Right? I told you!"

They stood off to the side and waited for Clint and Carter, who came out a little slower. Clint had hung at the back of the group after getting sick of being the one to open all the doors, and Carter had been making herself scarce, likely hiding on the middle of the group or with Clint.

Clint stood with them, and after a moment they all realized something was off.

"Where's Carter?" Laynie asked slowly.

"I thought you had her!" Tony and Clint shouted at the same time. They gave each other accusatory glares before they both ran to go back into the building, Tony dragging Laynie along.

An employee stopped them at the door. "This is a one way street guys," the girl told them.

"No, my friend's in there somewhere!"

"It's clearly stated in the terms of service that unless someone is injured we can't shut down the house. On the waivers you all signed. Your friend has to work their way through by their self."

"But she's really young," Tony reasoned. "Only fifteen and probably really scared. Let me go back-"

"Scared is the point. Under no condition can we let you go backwards."

Tony set his jaw, and looked like he was about ready to punch the girl. "She's like my daughter and I know she's terrified in there. Please, miss."

"No sir. You can go through the normal route for free since it's Halloween."

The three backed away from the doors and stood around the parking lot.

"I guess you guys have to go back in. I'll stay here and see if she comes out on her own," Laynie suggested.

Tony sighed. "That'll have to do." He and Clint walked around the building and Laynie perched on a median, watching the crowds for her friend.

Quickly Clint and Tony made their way to the entrance. They decided to split up and go different ways to cover more ground.

Clint found himself in the prison once more. He looked through each cell carefully, ignoring all the prisoners.

At the moment, all he could think about was finding Carter.

_If she was scared when she was with us, she must be terrified now._ He thought coming out of another cell.

He searched every corner of the faux prison before leaving to the next room.

By the time Clint reached the werewolf room, he was starting to get scared.

The haunted house wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to her. She could have been kidnapped and with who her family was, it wasn't an unlikely thing. And with that possibility in his mind, he remembered how they had just left Laynie completely alone.

All he could do was move faster.

He began calling her name as he rummaged around the rooms for Carter. He checked the ball pit thoroughly, then edged around every corner of the battlefield room. He straight up asked the butcher for help finding her, and still had no luck.

As he entered the demon torture chambers, he stopped and listened. There was a soundtrack of screaming and crying playing, but he recognized one unsteady sob. Clint knew Carter was in there somewhere.

He shouted for them all to stop and the actors fell silent.

"You okay man?" One asked above the loud soundtrack.

"I lost a teen in the house, I think she's in here."

One of the chained prisoners spoke up, pointing to a corner. "There's a little alcove there that we sometimes have guys hide in."

Clint darted over as the actors continued their job. He bent down when he reached the corner.

Carter screamed and pulled away.

Clint grabbed her wrists and pulled her around to face him. "Hey, it's okay. Calm down, you're okay." He reassured her.

"Clint?" She asked, still sniffling.

He gave a firm nod. "Yeah, it's me."

Carter sighed in relief. "I didn't where you guys were. I got separated from you in the insane asylum place. You three were gone when the lights came back on and I tried looking for you all, but I couldn't find you and it's like the house was neverending..." she babbled nervously.

Clint gathered her into a hug and held her there for a moment. Her whole body was trembling.

"Let's go, Laynie's waiting outside."

Carter revolted, pulling back into the cubby.

"It's okay Carter, they're stopped right now. Come on," Clint pleaded.

Carter still looked skeptical.

He took her into another hug, then stood. He held her head into his neck as he made his way through the room.

"Wait," one of the demons called.

Carter whimpered.

"There's a back door over here, it'll take you right out of the house."

"Thank God," Clint sighed. He exited the building quickly and set Carter on her feet. "Are you okay?"

Carter nodded. "Thank you..." she wiped the tears off her face.

"Anytime, kid." Clint smiled gently and ruffled her hair.

Smiling back, Carter said, "And here I thought you didn't like me?" She grinned cheekily.

Clint rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's go find Laynie." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they walked over to where they had left Laynie. And they found that she had disappeared.

"I thought you said we were going to find Laynie?" Carter asked in confusion.

"She was here when Tony and I went back in the house to find you..." Clint replied, worry seeping into his voice.

"Why don't we go ask the employee at the exit?" She suggested.

"Yeah, come on," They walked over and found the same girl from before. "Excuse me, did you see the girl we were with leave?" Clint asked.

"I think I heard her say something about going back in the house." The girl answered with a shrug. "If you wanna find her, you got-"

"Go through it again, yes I know." Clint sighed, "Thank you."

As they were walking toward the entrance, Carter whimpered, "We're not going back in, are we?"

Clint placed a hand on top of her head, "'Fraid so, shortie."

"Couldn't I just stay out here and wait for you guys?" Carter bit her lip anxiously.

"It's getting late and I don't feel comfortable leaving you out here alone." Clint answered sympathetically.

With that being said they entered the house once more.


	5. Chapter 5

Laynie was never a patient girl, but normally she was a smart one. Not on Halloween though. Not sitting in the dark all alone after walking through a haunted house. Nope.

Somehow, her candy-polluted mind deducted it would be far less scary to go back inside the haunted house alone than wait for someone else to come out. Somehow it made sense at the time.

As soon as she stepped foot in the first room, she regretted it.

The second a zombie lunged out of the bushes, she let out the most deafening scream. She recoiled so harshly that her yarn wig fell off her head. She grabbed it up quickly and ran.

"Tony!" she shouted. A chill gripped her, and she heard fake snow crunch beneath her feet. "Crap."

Frostbitten zombies came at her from all sides. She darted out of that room as quickly as she could without wiping out in the white powder coating the floor. The next room was easy, and the jail was almost fun. She stopped and asked the prisoner Tony had spoken with if he had passed, and thankfully he said he had.

"Thank you sir," Laynie said with a nod.

"Good luck finding your friend!" he called after her.

Laynie tried to go slowly through the house, searching for green tights, a puffy pirate shirt or a vampire's cape. She saw none of those even once she was in the clown room.

She shuffled through the stained and squished plastic balls carefully, trying to get through without gaining the unwanted attention of the clowns. Tony was nowhere in sight, nor were Clint and Carter.

As the next group noisily entered the ball pit, Laynie winced. It was all over.

The clowns came out of the walls shouting and grabbing. Her worst nightmare was hobbling toward her with a very real-looking chainsaw. Since when did circus acts include chainsaws anyway?

Laynie, needless to say, ran. Every second she regretted her decision more and more. She was beginning to wonder how much trouble wandering off would get her into.

Eventually Laynie made it to the room known as the slaughterhouse, and she knew she was nearing the end of the house again.

_I've gone through almost the entire house and still haven't found anybody._ She thought as she entered.

Her growing frustration caused her not to pay as much attention as she should have and she was caught off guard by the bloody butcher.

She screamed loudly when he swung his cleaver at her and backed into one of the fake pigs hanging from the ceiling.

Laynie ran from the burly man and ended bumping into somebody as she left the room.

She groaned slightly and looked up. She was delighted when she saw a long black and red cape, just like Tony's.

"Tony!" she shouted over all the noise.

The vampire turned around and snarled at her. It wasn't Tony.

She jumped back with a cry, right into_ another person._

"Hey! There you are. I thought that guy was me too, but then I remembered that I'm me, so he can't be. Who's idea was it for me to be a vampire anyway?"

Laynie jumped and turned into a hug. Being alone in the house was scarier than she anticipated, and what she really needed was a hug from her dad. "Oh my gosh I got tired of waiting so I came in alone and I couldn't find any of you!" She grunted into Tony's silk vampire shirt. "Never again."

Tony laughed and hugged her back. "Hey. Clint found Carter, but when I went out he was gone, because he came in to look for us. So he found me halfway through and is taking Carter out, so now all we have to do is go the rest of the way through."

Laynie nodded, and put her arm through the crook of Tony's. They went through the rest of the house together, screaming and laughing just like the first time.

On the outside, they found Clint and Carter sitting on the curb, the latter looking a little worse for wear.

"Finally!" Carter exclaimed as they walked toward her and Clint. She looked up at Tony tiredly. "Can we please go home now?"

He reached down and quickly ruffled her hair before she began swatting at him. He had a good laugh about it, then nodded. "Yeah, let's go home."

Carter huffed, "I'm never letting you people talk me into something like this ever again."

A while later they finally returned to Stark Tower. When they entered the living room they were greeted by Bruce and Pepper.

"How was it?" Bruce asked with a smile.

Carter narrowed her eyes. "I am never celebrating Halloween again." She answered, while being pulled into a hug from Bruce.

"That bad?" Pepper asked with a frown, looking at Tony expectantly.

"Well, I think Carter's being kinda melodramatic." Tony replied.

"I got lost in the haunted house! And you guys didn't even notice until after you had gone all the way through." Carter said with a slight glare pointed at Tony. "I'm not being melodramatic."

Tony pointed at Clint. "Not my fault."

Laynie waved a hand. "It wasn't that bad. Don't let her fool you, it wasn't even scary!"

It was Clint's turn to deny a statement. "It was pretty terrifying."

"Laynie, I think we've already determined that what you think is scary and what I think is scary are two totally different things." Carter countered her friend's argument.

Laynie shrugged and removed her yarn wig. "Tomato tomatoe. You're going again next year, we'll just bring a backpack leash so you don't get in trouble."

"Over my dead body." Carter answered, "Well, I'm going to bed, hopefully I won't wake any of my nightmare induced screams of terror. Goodnight." And with that she left for her room.

Laynie bit her lip, looking Bruce right in the eye. "She's okay... No reason to worry." She blew a quick, collective kiss to her family, then inched off to her room.

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

**_Lartovio:_**_ thanks everyone for reading! We hope you liked it, and HAAAAAPY HALLOWEEN!_

**_WayToDawn: _**_And so ends the Living With The Avengers Halloween Special! I hope you enjoyed it. It's just our little way of saying Happy Halloween! :D_


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